1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to vehicle based passive activation systems and alerting passengers to an inability to re-active such systems.
2. Background Art
More and more vehicles include passive activation systems, such as but not limited to passive entry and passive starting systems. These systems typically rely on a transmitter, fob, or other passenger carried element to control system activation. With respect to passive starting, for example, a vehicle engine or other driving element may be automatically started by a vehicle controller, a push-button operation, or some other passive or relatively passive action as long as the passenger is carrying the fob and the fob is properly communicating with the vehicle.
Should the passenger forget the fob or should the fob otherwise become unavailable, the passenger may be unable to re-start the vehicle using the passive starting system. The inability to re-start the vehicle can be particularly problematic if the vehicle has already been started and driven to another destination. For example, should the fob be lost out a window, run out of power, become incapacitated, or otherwise become unavailable, and the vehicle is thereafter shut-down, the passenger may be unable to re-start the engine.